The realities of health disparities are well documented. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a health crisis for African Americans and a serious threat to the Hispanic Community. In 2003, African Americans accounted for 50% of the new HIV/AIDS cases. According to the U.S. Census Bureau,Census 2000 Brief, African Americans/Blacks make up 12.9% of the U.S. population and account for 40% of the 929,985 estimated AIDS cases. The U. S. Census Bureau (May 2001)also reports that Hispanics accounted for 12.5% of the population. In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that Hispanics accounted for 13% of the new cases with an increase of 26% since 1999. As the numbers indicate, HIV/AIDS is a serious concern to both African Americans and Hispanics. ? ? Additionally there is an underrepresentation of Hispanics and African Americans in clinical trials. It is critical that Hispanics and African Americans with HIV/AIDS be included in clinical trials. Minority underrepresentation in clinical trials prohibits generalizability of results and is of significant concern. ? ? This was a descriptive, exploratory mixed methods study designed to examine the decision making processes of Hispanics and African Americans with HIV/AIDS enrolled in clinical trials in an effort to develop a future instrument to measure decision making in this population. The focus groups and in-depth interviews were completed. Of the 35 patients interviewed, 8 subjects participated in both a focus group and an in-depth interview. All of the tapes for the focus groups and the in-depth interviews have been transcribed verbatim. All transcripts that were transcribed in Spanish were translated into English. NVIVO software was used to analyze the qualitative data. Dissemination of data is in progress.
